Feature: The Newbie’s Guide to Book Blogging Part 7 – Get Organized

Publication dates, blog tours, giveaways, cover reveals, what do all of these have in common? Each one has a dead line. It can get overwhelming at times when you have so many things to watch out for..Or in this case read! This is why you should get organized. It’ll make your blogging schedule a lot easier, and will cause a lot less headaches. NOTE: All of the software, apps, and services I use are free.

Create a Blogging Schedule

By knowing which day of the week it is, you can create a blogging schedule. You can post several times a day, but I try not to since people also receive my blog posts via email and that can get quite annoying. My blogging schedule consists of three book reviews, two meme posts, and a featured post. Sometimes I’ll sprinkle in a book cover reveal or a book trailer but that rarely happens. Those I promote on my Twitter and Facebook pages.

Monday: Book Review

Tuesday: Book Review

Wednesday: Waiting on Wednesday Meme

Thursday: Book Review

Friday: Featured Post (original content!)

Saturday: Stacking the Shelves Book Haul Meme

Sunday: (Free) This is the day I try to comment and write all my reviews, so the blog is empty

Feel free to organize your schedule to one that you feel is right. Besides, it’s your blog!

Use a Calendar

Get one of those $1 calendars at the dollar store, or even print one out! Mark the dates your reviews will be published, as well as your giveaways, blog tours and other important dates like a book’s release date. Or go digital and mark everything on your phone and email software.

Since I constantly move scheduled posts around, I use my iPhone’s calendar. And what’s great about this feature is that it syncs with my Google calendar. If I log on to email, and check the calendar, all my scheduled dates are there, as well as on my iPhone AND iPad. You can even colour code your calendar which I use to my advantage. My categories include:

Blog Tours

ARC reviews

Review books

NetGalley and Edelweiss ebooks

Cover Reveals

Q&As with Authors

Book Events

Blog Hops

Giveaways

Write the titles of review books you have yet to read

This is like a to-do list but we’re book bloggers so it’s called a to-read list. Grab a notebook, write all the books you need to read then cross it off after you’re done. It’s an easy way to keep track of your review books.

I use the old school method and keep a notebook and paper around. Once I read a book I cross it off the list. After I write the review and schedule it, I use a highlighter and mark it.

Use apps

Yes I’m that type of person that needs to be connected 24/7. I have to be! I’m running a blog here for my readers. While I’m on the go, and I’m nowhere near a computer, I use my handy dandy iPhone. Most importantly EverNote and the WordPress app.

Evernote is a Godsend. Instead of writing all my reviews or posts on my desktop computer, I can write it on my phone, my iPad and my desktop. Evernote syncs all my files across the different platforms so everything stays the same. No need to update your work from the phone to the desktop. It does it for you. You can even keep photos, attachments (PDFs), and audio clips on the cloud.

I use Evernote whenever I have an idea for a featured post or when I’m reading, I type quotes and even some thoughts on the book. This way I don’t have to write it down on paper (saves trees) and type it up again on the computer.

Luckily WordPress also has an app and when I really need to publish or edit a post I just open it and it has all the features that the web version has. Checking web site stats is also a breeze so I’m constantly opening it to check the blog’s traffic. This is a very convenient way to publish a post if you’re away from your laptop or desktop computer. The only downside is that I can use Photoshop to edit my photos.

This app lets you post to your blog from the go. Unfortunately it’s very limited, and doesn’t have an HTML editor, so you’ll have to write it manually. It does however, include the feature to add photos straight from your phone. When you preview your blog, it also turns the version into the mobile version from your site so it’s easier to read.

If you have a Gmail account, you are able to sync your calendars across all your devices. The beauty of the apple product is that you are able to sync your Google Calendar straight to your iPhone and even iPad. While you’re on your desktop, you can just open up any browser and check your email and calendar there. If you want to be alerted via your phone, you can do so. You can even make documents, spreadsheets, forms, and more with Google Drive. I keep a spreadsheet of all the books that I have organized by title, author, series, publisher or imprint, genre, and format.

If your book blog has a Facebook Page, you can update straight from your phone as well. Your personal account syncs with your Page account, so you will always be posting as your Page. The only thing I don’t like about this app is that it doesn’t show a thumbnail preview of the URL you’re posting. People like to see photos, so I only use this app sparingly.

My Organized Reading Schedule

When I read a book, I always open up a new note on the EverNote app and whenever there’s a point that I want to include in my review, I type it so I don’t forget it. Sometimes, I don’t write a review right after I read a book, so I constantly forget what happens. I use this method so the content is fresh on my mind.

For my blog, publisher books are given priority over others. As do blog tour books, ARCs, and eARCs. I do add a book that I would like to read every now and then so I can finally make a dent in my to-read list! I try to read a book from every publisher that I’m in contact with, so no one gets the special treatment.

I have a mini bookcase that I use just for review books and ARCs. These are the ones that I receive from all the publishers. Once I finish an ARC, I’ll either give it away to a good home, or do a giveaway. I like to keep it separate from the ones that I buy. I even place them on the shelf by publication date, so I can quickly find it.

I am so glad you started these up again 🙂 This is probably my favorite feature, you always put SO much information in these posts!!

I love Evernote. Honestly, I’m not sure I would ever have anything done without it. I also keep an date book/calender in my purse to write in as well. I’m glad to know someone else still uses the ole pen and paper route too, lol.

Great tips! It really shows when a blog is organized, and is something I know I still have to work on after two years of blogging. I’ve been doing the notebook list of review books and crossing them off (which is so satisfying) but I hadn’t thought of highlighting the reviewed books. I also have them listed on Goodreads. I need to look into doing some of these other things too.

OK. This is one of your most helpful posts ever – I totally need to start using Evernote for my notes and writing. THANK YOU. I’m totally going to start using Google Calendar for this, too – I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.

Like Rebecca, I’ve not gotten around to getting a calendar. Which I should totally do soon. And since I don’t have a phone, I do everything on my laptop, but the apps up there would be very useful once I have a phone of my own. As for organization in general, I honestly do nothing in particular to organize my things except for the desktop sticky notes I have.

This is SUCH a great post! For some reason, I nver got round to getting a calender (personal or otherwise) but I totally plan to be prepared and grab one in 2013 so I’ll be extra ready and more prepared. Thanks for these idea’s, I’ll be sure to check them out 😀

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ABOUT

Hello! I'm Giselle and I'm a BlogTuber (Book Blogger + BookTuber). I book blog and I also make videos on my BookTube channel . I'm also a web and graphic designer, amateur photographer n00b, dog lover, and all around book nerd. *waves* :P

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